Alec Guinness, The Lavender Hill Mob

I wasn't fond of The Lavender Hill Mob. In fact, it was a bit of a struggle for me to make my way through the film. I report this feeling queer about my overall sentiment, as though I've misunderstood something - for both the film and its lead performance from Alec Guinness seem to have favorable notices online. And yet, for whatever reason, neither registered for me.

I say this having seen Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets and thinking he was excellent in the film. Reserved yet caustically witty, he most certainly deserved a nomination in 1950's Best Actor field. That being said, I came in to The Lavender Hill Mob with high hopes.

It was surprising to find that the picture itself was a bit of a slow burn for me; it lacks an actionable catalyst until about a third of a the way through, its "Britishness" (see: civilized humor, as described by the New York Times) is central to the film yet came off as mostly stale for me, and I had a difficult time connecting with the story and the characters. As the quiet bank clerk turned gold bullion smuggler, I felt as though Guinness mostly goes with the flow, largely lacking charisma (of which he had tons in Kind Hearts). Henry Holland is not a character that needs to command attention per se, but I don't know that he really communicated aspects of Holland acutely; for example, you'll often see descriptors of Holland in reviews of the film as being "timid," or "mousey," and yet I never really felt that from Guinness. Even as Holland concocts and executes his master plan, there's little there that fully convinced me this was a determined man on a mission. It seems as though a good chunk of this performance is wildly underplayed, and it really did nothing for me.

There're some stronger moments across his performance; Guinness is decidedly goofy in the scene where he has to rough himself up, and this carries over in the last act in his Eiffel tower and police exhibition melees. This is where it's expressly clear that he's having the most fun, and it'd have been nice to see effervescence spread out more widely. Tonally, the film and performance are stodgier than I'd expect from a silly crime caper led by an actor who has previously done well within this context. Overall, I felt this to be perfectly adequate enough work, though I'm unclear on its merits to warrant consideration as being among the best of the year (though, if you feel otherwise, of course let me know!)